MANCHESTER Camerata will bring their current season to a close by celebrating the miracles of Beethovenés masterworks.

Throughout their 30th anniversary season, the chamber orchestraés programme has been celebrating the works of composers, including Prokofiev, with the 150th anniversary of his death celebrated with a festival in Manchester.

The artistic director and principal conductor Douglas Boyd explains why Beethoven was chosen for the final concert.

éThe Triple concerto and Eroica (Symphony No.3) were both composed in 1803, exactly 200 years ago. We wanted to blow our own trumpet that we were 30 years old.

éThe power of Beethovenés music is unbelievable drama and the structure is like that of a cathedral or phenomenal or extraordinary building. Beethoven has the ability to express every emotion known to human beings through music."

Boyd adds that many people see classical music as old fashioned, but he describes them as miracles of our civilisation.

éItés not about the Classic FM-isation of music which has turned it into something nice to listen to in the background, in reality it is a work which can convey everything from beauty to terror é something which is evident in the Eroica, which has the battle before the triumph at the end.

Legacy

But, he says, Beethoven, like other composers, could never be classed as a cut above the rest.

éYou cannot put Beethoven at number one and Mozart at number two in a league table. Composers have left a legacy of music and Beethoven is just part of that legacy.é

The full programme includes Beethovenés Egmont Overture, Symphony No.3 (éEroicaé), and the Triple Concerto for piano violin, cello and orchestra.

The Florestan Trio, who performed at a mid-day recital in October at the Bridgewater Hall will be joining Boyd and Manchester Camerata for the Triple Concerto.

éI have worked with The Florestan Trio on a number of concertos in the past and Anthony Marwood was the soloist in the Prokofiev Violin Concerto with Manchester Camerata which we performed as part of the Prokofiev festival. They are probably one of the finest piano trios in the world,é said Boyd.

Boyd is a firm believer that classical concerts are not just something to go and listen to, they are a special event é something which, he says makes the Camerata special.

éMy background is as a players in the Chamber Orchestra of Europe whom conducted for the first time on Monday (March 31).

éThey have been going for 21 years and at each concert they play as if their lives depended on it. The same is true of Manchester Camerata. Every concert is an event and their phenomenal friendship and desire to play is impressive.

Interpretation

He adds that he hopes to add that extra edge to the coming concert.

éIf you are conducting an orchestra you have to add your own trade marks to the music. I try to bring a lot of drama to the music. For example, Beethoven writes hundreds of sforzandos which are attacks on the notes. My interpretation of these is like a knife piercing the heart é an enormous attack.é

He said the orchestra had made great progress over the year and is looking forward to a very special season which starts in September.

éBefore this season a typical audience in the Bridgewater Hall was 400 to 500 whereas now, it is around 1,200 to 1,300 and there is a real buzz about the orchestra and this has been reflected by our audiences,é he said.

éWe have sold out every concert at the RNCM and have always had more than 1,000 at the Bridgewater Hall, sometime considerably more. And we have had a fantastic response from our audience.

éThe biggest challenge is obviously funding and we have improved this year. What the orchestra does on a shoestring budget is nothing short of miraculous.

éNext season we will be performing some Brahms Symphonies in the way in which Brahms would have heard them é played by a chamber orchestra.

éOther major events will be on a theme called Manchester Connections. We will be celebrating Manchester and Manchester musicians and all soloists next season are artists born and brought up in Manchester or who have contributed a lot to the musical life of the city.